Student Voices(Mr. Jycan Tan Gichun) *Pre-arrival

Mr. Jycan Tan Gichun
-Name of university and department for study in Japan: Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University(APU), majored in International Relations.
-Name of high school: Institute Bahasa Teikyo, ACT Educational Institute at the time (private preparatory school for Japanese returnees)
-Japanese Language Proficiency Test：N2 at the time of entrance examination for university and other schools.
-Level of English language test：IELTS Band 8
-Scholarship: JASSO Scholarship (Reservation Program allocated for EJU honor students in the EJU) and reduction of university tuition.
-Present assignment: Working on an internship at UNHCR’s Malaysian office.
(as of 2017)

Why did you intend to study in Japan?

I have a dream to work in an international organization such as the UN to contribute to address global issues in future. In order to accomplish my dream, I thought it would be appropriate to study in Japan. Japan stood first among Asian nations to modernize the country and has taken the prominent role in the world. Japan has been the second largest contributor to the UN for many years. In terms of the length of contribution history and size of ODA, Japan is far ahead of other nations in Asia. I want to go to Japan to study its knowledge and wisdom.

To which aspects were you attracted to study in Japan?

I came to know that Japanese people are really well organized in everyday life. Moreover, they are very humble and modest, and always give priority to other people. I found the honorific expression of the Japanese language showing respect to elders and betters is very beautiful and elegant.

How did you contact schools in Japan? What made you feel troublesome?

I did not find any specific problem. I sent e-mails in Japanese to contact the university. Since the time difference between Malaysia and Japan is only one hour, I didn’t need to wait for long to get replies.

How was the second examination conducted by the university and how did you prepare for it?

The second examination was a long-distance telephone interview. I was asked to introduce myself and the most memorable question was that why I chose the Japanese language to take EJU while I would be able to take it in English.

How did you study the Japanese language and what made you difficult to study it?

It is the question frequently asked by a lot of my friends. I believe there are two ways to study it. The first one is to study Japanese for daily conversation and the second one is for the people who want to acquire knowledge and make it a tool for goal of life. It is not so much difficult to master daily conversational Japanese, however, for people like us who want to study in Japan, the second one fits to our purpose. There are so many Kanji characters in Japanese. When even some Japanese people may not master all of Kanji characters, it would be quite highly challenging for us as foreigners to do it.

How did you study “Japan and the World”? Which aspects did you find difficult? Are there any fields which you do not study in your country?

“Japan and the World” is my second most favorite subject next to “Japanese as a Foreign Language”. Nevertheless, it was not so easy to study it. The scope of the subject is quite different from the one which I study in my country. It was the first experience in my life to cram such a huge amount of knowledge into my head in a short period. I often visited the Japanese section at Kinokuniya book store in Malaysia to acquire various study guides prepared for each stage of elementary school, junior high school and high school and used to exercise to answer questions.